Caught by The Enemy, part 3

“Damn bitch!” the man cursed, completely shocked. Not daring to take his opponent lightly, he drew his sword and deflected another of Madam Wang’s strikes.

“If the Qingcheng Sword School wants to get rid of the Fortune Prestige Escort House, that’s easy; but as to who is right and who is wrong, the Martial World will definitely be the judge of that. Young Sir Yu, if you please!” Lin Zhennan saluted Yu with his sword.

Yu Renhao pressed on his sheath, and the sword jumped out of the sheath with a ring of steel. “Chief Master Lin, after you!”

Lin Zhennan thought to himself, “I’ve long heard that the Pine-Wind Sword Art of the Qingcheng Sword School is both sturdy and light. They say that it is as sturdy as the pine and as light as the wind. I must try to control the initiative for a chance to win.” At that thought, he started his attack immediately. After thrusting the sword toward the enemy as a feint, he swiped his sword sideways. This was one move of the “Evil-Resisting Sword Art” called “Keep Away Evil.” Seeing the ferocity of the blow, Yu Renhao dodged out of the way. Lin Zhennan did not wait to complete the move; he immediately followed up with another move – “Eye-Picking Zhong Kui,” the point of his sword shot straight toward his opponent’s eyes, and as soon as Yu Renhao jumped back from the tip of the sword, his third attack immediately followed. Yu Renhao raised his sword and blocked the thrust with a clash of metal. Both felt the impact in their arms.

“I thought the Kung Fu of the Qingcheng Sword School was really something,” Lin Zhennan thought, “but it seems to be only average. With this level of skill, how could he possibly perform the powerful ‘Heart Crushing Palm’? He must have another powerful helper around.” With this realization, his heart pumped even faster.

Yu Renhao turned his sword around and stabbed at Lin Zhennan, directing his attack at seven different parts of Lin Zhennan’s body almost simultaneously. The thrusts were so fast that it seemed as though the air between them had suddenly been filled with the flickers of silver stars. Lin Zhennan’s counter attack was just as fast, working hard to control the initiative. The two fought back and forth, and after over twenty moves, they were still at a standstill.

At the other end, the fight between Madam Wang and Fang Renzhi turned out to be a totally different story. Madam Wang’s golden saber was simply no match for the incredible speed of her opponent’s attacks; it was already a miracle how she managed several narrow escapes. Seeing his mother on the verge of losing, Lin Pingzhi hurriedly joined in. He swung his sword downward at Fang Renzhi’s head. Fang Renzhi moved aside and dodged the attack. Lin Pingzhi lunged forth again like a madman. Suddenly, he tripped on something. Losing his balance completely, he fell flat on his face. “Stay down!” he heard somebody yell, and then he felt a foot pressing down heavily on his back in addition to the sharp prick of a blade. All he could see was the dirt on the ground. He heard his mother screaming, “Don’t kill him! Don’t kill him!” Then he heard Fang Renzhi yelling, “You lie down, too.”

What actually happened was that when Lin Pingzhi and his mother were fighting Fang Renzhi, a third man had sneaked in from behind and swept Lin Pingzhi with his leg, causing him to stumble. He then pulled out a dagger and placed it right at Lin Pingzhi’s heart. Madam Wang was already having a hard time defending herself. With this distraction, she started panicking, and her moves became careless. It became easy for Fang Renzhi to elbow her in the ribs and knock her off her feet.

Fang Renzhi quickly sealed their acupoints. The man who tripped Lin Pingzhi was none other than Jia Renda or brother Jia, who had fought against the two escorts in the small wine shop outside of Fuzhou.

Seeing both his wife and son captured by the enemy, Lin Zhennan also panicked and attacked more desperately. Yu Renhao let out a long laugh and suddenly attacked with several moves that gained him every the initiative in the fight.

“How did this man learn the moves of my ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art’?” Lin Zhennan was astonished.

“How…how…did you learn the Evil-Resisting…?” Lin Zhennan could only stutter.

Yu Renhao's sword hit Lin Zhennan knee

“What’s so great about your ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art’? I learned it too,” Fang Renzhi started laughing hard. He held his sword and started performing the stances – “Keep Away the Evils,” “Eye-Picking Zhong Kui,” and “Swallow Flying through the Willow Tree” – all were moves of “Evil-Resisting Sword Art.” In that instant, Lin Zhennan was utterly filled with horror. He could never have imagined that his family’s very own secret technique, the “Evil-Resisting Sword Art,” being performed by his enemies. He was so confused that he completely lost the will to fight.

“Gotcha!” Yu Renhao blurted out as he hit Lin Zhennan’s knee. The knee went numb and gave out on Lin Zhennan, forcing him to kneel down. Though he jumped back up immediately, Yu Renhao had already pressed the tip of his sword at Lin’s chest.

“Junior apprentice brother Yu, what an excellent display of ‘Shooting Star Chasing The Moon’!” Jia Renda cheered loudly. Like the others, “Shooting Star Chasing the Moon” turned out to be yet another move of the “Evil-Resisting Sword Art.”

“You…you know the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art’…okay, just make it quick!” Lin Zhennan heaved a long sigh and dropped his sword. Numbness spread from his back as Fang Renzhi sealed his acupoint with a blow from the pommel of his sword. Then, he heard Fang Renzhi speak again.

“It’s not going to end that easy, you swine! You son of a turtle, wife of a turtle, and grandson of a turtle, the three of you are going to have the exquisite privilege of meeting my Master!”

Jia Renda grabbed Lin Pingzhi, lifted him up by the collar, and slapped him hard on both cheeks. (To be continued)